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Zanouri Sprigglesprocket
Zanouri Sprigglesprocket is a gnomish warlock in service to the . Description: *Zanouri is a rather scrawny tanned gnome whose casual manner of dress reflects that of those hailing from the mountain regions of Tanaris. More recently, she has been seen wearing more formal garments that reflect the appearance of an exotic bird of some sort. (Birds are very symbolic to her.) *Zanouri's long black hair reaches to a point just passed her waistline. It is usually kept in a messy pony-tail. Her straggly bangs cover the sides of her often sullen-looking dark brown eyes. *All visible parts of her body are riddled with old scars. Most are in the shape of whip-like marks, though there are a few of note that were made by sharp objects and from being badly burned. *There is a distinct large claw-shaped burn-scar (only partially covered by her robes and cloak) which stretches nearly the entire length of her back. Also, rarely visible due to her shoulder pads is a much smaller brand mark on the back of her left shoulder. This small brand is evidence of her past connection with the old Twilight Hammer cult. *Nicknames: Zan, Zapnouri, Sand Pygmy, 'Nouri, Zanzan, Zee, Zap, Zapper, Zanny *MOTTO: "Strike first, ask questions later... Then no one can walk all over you." Background: The Beginning Zanouri was born in Tanaris thanks to her father (Barrol Sprigglesprocket) and her mother (Ciliah Nullsprite) being stuck there at the time. Barrol was heavily involved with a nomadic tribe of humans in the mountain regions of Tanaris. After Zanouri's birth, Barrol and Ciliah ended up separating due to intense disagreements about Zan's future. Ciliah was a simple mage and felt that the desert was no place to raise a child. Ciliah wished for them to return to Gnomeregan where Zanouri could be around other gnomes her own age and have more opportunities in life. Barrol, on the other hand, had no magical talents. He preferred that Zanouri stay and learn engineering under him and eventually take over his legacy to help the people of the desert. In the end, it was Barrol who gained final custody of Zanouri, so she ended up being raised in Tanaris with him, while her mother returned to Gnomeregan alone. Zanouri has little recollection of her mother as that was the last time she ever heard from her mother. Barrol was a rather clumsy engineer, but in Zan's eyes, he could do no wrong. It was clear they shared a very close father-daughter relationship. Zanouri could have chosen any last name she wanted per Gnomish traditions, but she instead opted to take on the same last name as her father to signify the great respect she had for him. Zanouri enthusiastically trained as his apprentice. As a result of this apprenticeship, she often traveled with Barrol to Gadgetzan to help him with his mostly unsuccessful business ventures. One night while her father was working overtime on a secret solo project in the city, there was a large explosion in the building he was in. Zanouri was devastated to learn that Barrol had perished in the aftermath. She was told that it was an accident, but when others quickly proceeded laugh it off and joke “How fitting of an end it was for the -Sprigglesprocket clutz-!”, she felt nothing but great resentment. She felt strongly that her father was set up and so harbored deep feelings of vengeance towards both those who mocked him and whoever was directly responsible for the incident. The vast majority of her tribe were an extremely superstitious lot of humans. They felt Zanouri's unhealthy obsession with revenge was an ill omen. She quickly became the scapegoat for any and all misfortunes that befell them. They would brutally punish her and starve her for the slightest reasons they could come up with. It wasn't long before she subconsciously began to associate all humans with great misery and pain. Many nights she contemplated simply running away, but Tanaris was most unforgiving to the lone traveler-- let alone one in her state. She was forced to stay with her abusers and endure. When someone died from a serious illness, it was once again assumed that Zanouri was the culprit somehow. It was decided for the good of the majority that she be sent away to be "purified" at an old human priest shrine located in a remote location within the desert. This was practically a death sentence, for the priests' idea of "purification" was to torment their victims until they were completely broken in spirit and begged for forgiveness. More often than not, the victims would perish long before the Shrine priests were ever satisfied enough to release them. Even then, if the victims' wounds didn't kill them shortly after they were freed, then the harsh desert would lay claim to their lives. It was a hopeless situation. Zanouri's mind reached its lowest and most vulnerable state shortly after her arrival at the shrine. It was then she first started hearing the voices in her head. She would later come to know these as the whispers of the Old Gods. They told her that she was destined to take part in a far greater plan, but first she must learn from her captors or perish.... Tapping into latent magic abilities, as her instinct for survival gained traction, Zanouri learned to mimic some of the more basic mind techniques the priests had used against her. She used these less potent versions of their own abilities against them to distract them while their guard was down. It allowed her to slip away into a small crevice, where she hid for hours in fear before she finally got the opportunity to escape the Shrine altogether. By chance or perhaps by the will of the Old Gods themselves (as Zanouri sincerely believes), a band of non-hostile desert travelers came across her unconscious body half-buried in the desert sands. By honor of the "Desert Travelers' Code", they were obligated to take her with them for medical attention and nourishment at the nearest known camp. Afterwards, they continued on their separate paths. History: Path to Darkness In fitful nightmares, the voices would return to her. Like an echo, they repeatedly urged her to seek out their servants. These dreams frightened her for reasons she did not understand, but she felt bound to do as they said-- even though she did not know who they were or why she heard them. She felt lost. Once she was well enough, Zanouri traveled alone, following whatever leads she could find in connection with her dreams. She stowed away on ships whenever she needed to go long distances and resorted to thievery to satisfy her basic needs, though many days she barely had enough to get by. Zanouri's fear and distrust of humans was deeply ingrained by this point. She preferred to avoid human contact all together, but for the instances where interaction was unavoidable, she found herself lashing out angrily towards them with an uncontrollable temper. She felt threatened by even the kindest of humans, who she assumed had ulterior motives. Negative interactions with humans merely strengthened her prejudice against them, creating a self-feeding cycle of hatred within her mind. Eventually her search lead her to Darkshore where she unwittingly became witness to an ominous group of people performing a ritual. They immediately cornered her and heavily questioned her once they discovered her presence. Eventually she was forced to admit about the voices, but to her surprise, they seemed to understand the situation far better than she did. They revealed themselves to be the servants of those who lead her there in the first place--The Old Gods! The strangers were members of a small sect of the Twilight Hammer cult known as the . They told her the choice was hers. Now that she knew, she could either join them.... or perish at their hands in tribute to the Old Ones. The choice was an easy one for Zanouri. She had not come all this way just to turn back now. To her, the cult was a desperate means to reach the "light from darkness". She joined without hesitation. History: Life with the Cult After Zanouri was painfully initiated into the cult, she was branded on the back of her left shoulder. The brand created a mental connection to the rest of the cult. This connection was referred to as "The Collective". The Collective allowed not only mental communication between the members, but also allowed the higher ranked members to use it to actively track all other members or to send direct signals of pain or pleasure as a means of punishment or reward. Zanouri's temper and smart-mouth got her into trouble most of the time, causing her to be on the receiving end of pain more often than not. Sometimes she'd be drawn into unconsciousness as a result of the severity and/or frequency of these reprimands. This earned her such nicknames as: "Zapnouri", "Zapper", and "Zap". One high-ranking cultist in particular (a psychotic worgen named Lewin Godwyn), seemed to make it his mission to use the Collective as often as possible against Zan with painful stimuli. (Ironically, Lewin was also the same one who had originally initiated her into the cult in the first place. Initiation had consisted of him cutting into the palm of her right hand and arm using his claw as he ordered her to swear fealty to the Old Ones...) The "Dogman" (as Zan calls Lewin) quickly earned a special place of hatred in her heart. When Zanouri wasn't getting into trouble for her attitude, she was made to attend a harsh training regimen with other members of the cult or assist on whatever missions their superiors had tasked of them. She found herself severely injured more often than not, due to her inexperience and weak abilities in combat situations. What little she knew of shadow magic she had learned through mimicry. Eventually she'd turn to a 'human' known as "Nox" for advice. Nox served as the cult's battle trainer though it was clear he was not a member himself. Zanouri felt Nox could be harsh at times and really odd at other times, yet Nox would become like a mentor to Zanouri-- both for cult and non-cult related issues. For the first time ever, Zanouri began to feel admiration (and eventually trust) towards a human! Much later, Zanouri does learn that Nox is actually a twilight dragon in human-guise, but even with that knowledge, she subconsciously still considers him as being human. Nox eventually became one of the select few who understood the full circumstances of why Zan behaves the way she does with humans and worgen (Zan thinks of worgen as merely "cursed humans"). Even before he knew, Nox never reprimanded her for stealing food (or even priceless relics) from him. Instead, he would place food in more obvious locations for her to find whenever she broke into his house and he openly offered his home to her should she ever need a place to stay. From a combination of enduring great hardships with the cult, Nox's guidance, and Zan's own strong will, Zanouri becomes an accomplished shadow-caster, no longer relying on mimicry for her abilities. In addition, though she instinctually has great distrust and fear for humans, she learns to tolerate working with them; though it still does not take much for a human to set off her temper... History: Enter Rahmlaha Zanouri made the mistake of stealing from a gnome warlock named Rahmlaha Snowstrider . The brand on Zan's shoulder revealed her allegiance, so Rah used it as an opportunity to strike back at Zanouri for what she'd done. Rahmlaha blackmailed Zan into stealing relics from the and leading them to participate in one of Rah's games of survival. Seeing no way around it, Zanouri did as she was told. To Rahmlaha's dismay, the cultists won and were thus free to leave per her own rules, however Rah did not let Zanouri herself off the hook. In retribution, Zanouri was forced to make a contract with Rah. Under the terms, Zanouri was bound in servitude under Rahmlaha. Rahmlaha later freed Zanouri from the contract due to a deal she made with Nox. History: Fall of the Due to internal betrayal, the disappearance and presumed death of their Prophet, the dismantling of the Collective, and the overall fall of the Twilight Hammer, surviving members of the became scattered. Zanouri reverted to some of her old ways to survive on the streets for a while, before eventually making her way back to Nox's place to question him about why he had made a deal with Rahmlaha and what exactly he had promised. History: Rise of the Zanouri would learn that in her absence, much had changed. Nox had been hand-picking others to serve under him for what he deemed the "Second Twilight", a cult that sought to -preserve- Azeroth in the name of the Old Ones. This was in stark contrast to the ways of the First Twilight cult, which aimed to -destroy- Azeroth. The Second Twilight was to be a less extreme version of its predecessor and would resort to mostly non-violent means to accomplish their goals. Zanouri willingly follows Nox with his new vision. Unfortunately, even with such differences in goals, the is still overshadowed by the evils done during the First Twilight's reign. As such, they are still viewed as "kill or arrest on sight" by the vast majority of people should the Second Twilight cultists be revealed. Personality and Facts *Is aloof and distrusting of those she does not know. *Is very easily provoked and will lash out accordingly. *Has an extreme fear of humans. Often this fear translates into "hatred". She considers worgen to still be 'human' and so this fear extends to them as well. *Has a love for sweet pastries. *Has an extremely low alcohol tolerance. *Despises cold weather. *Is extremely lacking in physical strength and tires fast from extended physical exertions. *Has a habit of stealing, though usually only that which she needs to get by. *Practicioner of solely shadow-based magic. She has absolutely no control over light-based magic. *Often seen with a little orange raptor named "Razmir" trailing behind her. *Often carries around an intricately carved staff that contains a 'Shadow to Arcane' converter gem infused within the tip of it. The gem was a gift from Kinria . *Even though she does not use the Light, she does still have the ability to heal and break shadow-based curses. She does so by transferring her own life energies to another as mediated by her spirit self within the physical form of whoever she is healing. This technique is extremely taxing on her, however. It also leaves her physical body completely vulnerable while her spirit form is temporarily separated from her physical form. Organization Affiliations IN PROGRESS Player-Character Affiliations with Zanouri IN PROGRESS Category:Characters Category:Gnome Category:Eyes of Old